In the related art, a tablet of a pharmaceutical product or the like has typically been produced in accordance with a batch method including formation of an intermediate product in each of the processes of granulating, drying, mixing, and the like and production of a tablet in the final process of tableting (i.e., compression molding).
However, the batch method includes several processes of scaling-up in the course of scaling-up a small compression-molding machine for research and development to a large compression-molding machine for commercial use. Furthermore, it is necessary to conduct verification experiments for such scaling-up, and thus there is a problem of increasing the frequency of using a raw material (i.e., a powdery material) and causing enormous costs.
Furthermore, the batch method includes standby periods between the processes and thus has difficulty in timely feeding of an intermediate product. Furthermore, the batch method has a problem of requiring facility design for each of the processes and occupying a large space. Specifically, a single chamber is used for each of the processes, and a worker needs to deliver an intermediate product to a chamber for the subsequent process.
Accordingly, there is a demand for continuously conducting the processes unlike in the batch method.
JP 2008-183168 A describes a volumetric feeding device and an in-line mixer. However, the volumetric feeding device is not configured to simultaneously measure and feed a powdery material, and the in-line mixer is configured only for horizontal mixing. Furthermore, JP 2008-183168 A relates to a tablet production system configured to continuously produce pharmaceutical or health food products in the form of a tablet. However, JP 2008-183168 A describes roughly mixing a micro-additive such as a lubricant and a disintegrant with a powdery material that is a raw material, but does not describe essential mixing that determines contents of the principal agents in the tablet, such as mixing an excipient or the like with a principal agent, which occupy a most part of the tablet, and mixing of principal agents with one another.
JP 2014-221343 A describes a tablet production module, and a method of continuously producing tablets.
However, JP 2014-221343 A does not specifically describe how to mix powdery materials.